Re: NACLA on RCTV

[Jim Devine <jdevine03@xxxxxxxxx>]

Eric Biewener:
> So the entire time I've been in Venezuela (2 months now), I've been
> trying to figure out why the grocery stores I go to don't always have
> chicken or beef. I thought at first that it had to do with the time of
> day that I went… then I thought that maybe I was going to a crappy
> grocery store (I was, I now use a better one… but still the same problem
> with the meat)… then I thought, well, maybe this is just how shit works
> in Venezuela.

what an idiot! doesn't he know about the way in which price controls
typically lead to such results? (is that the cause, Mike L?) didn't he
look at other (non-price) rationing schemes that might be in place,
insuring a fair distribution of meat? didn't he do some investigation?

> Then, while reading an article about rural land redistribution, it hit
> me: this IS how shit works in Venezuela. See, the rural land
> redistribution works like this: some squatters go and burn down a big
> rancher's crops, tell him that they own the land now, and then demand
> that Chávez let them keep the land, which he often does. As a result,
> lot's of once productive land is now being used by people who either
> don't really know what they're doing, don't have the capital to do it,
> or both. Also, once productive land owners are no longer investing in
> their land or animals because they fear that it will be a waste. Why
> grow sugar cane or raise a chicken when some squatter is just going to
> take it away from you with the blessing of the federal government?

he bases this on an article he read? which article? what are its
political biases? didn't this guy look at the question by doing some
investigation?

if NACLA is using this fellow's services, they have truly gone to pot.
--
Jim Devine /  "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your
own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.